Upgrading to Spring Boot 3 with OpenRewrite

Migrating to Spring Boot 3 can be a challenge for developers, given the framework’s substantial updates. Manual code adjustments across multiple projects can be time-consuming and error-prone. This article explores how OpenRewrite can streamline this process. By leveraging a series of specialized recipes, developers can automate many of the necessary code transformations.

You can use OpenRewrite’s UpgradeSpringBoot_3 recipes to modernize your own projects, significantly accelerating the migration. This article will delve into the specific recipes and strategies used to achieve a smooth transition to Spring Boot 3.3 or newer.

1. Set Up Your Environment

• Install JDK 17: Spring Boot 3 requires Java 17, so ensure it’s installed on your system.
• Upgrad to Spring Boot 2.7.x: Make sure your project is on the latest Spring Boot 2.7 version before attempting the migration to Spring Boot 3

2. Prepare Your Project

• Review Dependencies: Check your project’s dependencies and update them if necessary. Also check for deprecations in your current Spring Boot 2.x setup.

3. Use OpenRewrite for Migration

• Install OpenRewrite: Add OpenRewrite to your project. You can do this by including the necessary dependencies in your pom.xml or build.gradle file.
• Run Migration Recipes: OpenRewrite provides specific recipes for migrating from Spring Boot 2 to Spring Boot 3. These recipes automate many of the changes needed. Here’s how you can run them:
  • For Maven, add the following:

<project>
  <build>
    <plugins>
      <plugin>
        <groupId>org.openrewrite.maven</groupId>
        <artifactId>rewrite-maven-plugin</artifactId>
        <version>5.37.1</version>
        <configuration>
          <exportDatatables>true</exportDatatables>
          <activeRecipes>
            <recipe>org.openrewrite.java.spring.boot3.UpgradeSpringBoot_3_3</recipe>
          </activeRecipes>
        </configuration>
        <dependencies>
          <dependency>
            <groupId>org.openrewrite.recipe</groupId>
            <artifactId>rewrite-spring</artifactId>
            <version>5.16.0</version>
          </dependency>
        </dependencies>
      </plugin>
    </plugins>
  </build>
</project>

Run mvn rewrite:run to run the recipe.

Alternatively, you can migrate your Spring Boot project with just one-liner:

mvn -U org.openrewrite.maven:rewrite-maven-plugin:run -Drewrite.recipeArtifactCoordinates=org.openrewrite.recipe:rewrite-spring:RELEASE -Drewrite.activeRecipes=org.openrewrite.java.spring.boot3.UpgradeSpringBoot_3_3 -Drewrite.exportDatatables=true

Conclusion

This article provided a quick guidance on how to migrate your Spring Boot 2 applications to version 3 using the OpenRewrite plugin. By including the plugin in your project file, you can easily upgrade to the latest major version of Spring Boot.

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